1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle control apparatus and a vehicle control method with which an operating condition of a vehicle can be switched between an automatic operation and a manual operation.
2. Description of Related Art
An apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-161196 (JP 9-161196 A) is available as a vehicle control apparatus capable of switching an operating condition of a vehicle between an automatic operation and a manual operation. JP 9-161196 A describes an apparatus in which a scheduled point for switching the operating condition of the vehicle from the automatic operation to the manual operation is set in advance so that when the vehicle approaches the scheduled point, a notification is issued to prompt a driver to perform an operation to switch to the manual operation.
In the conventional apparatus described above, the notification prompting the driver to perform the operation to switch the operating condition of the vehicle from the automatic operation to the manual operation is issued before the vehicle reaches the scheduled point. However, when the notification is issued in a case where the driver is not in a condition to be able to handle the manual operation, it may not be appropriate to switch the operating condition of the vehicle from the automatic operation to the manual operation at the scheduled point.